‘I’ve always hated the word strangers because it implies that people we don’t know are strange’
children and the classic “I know where time’s gone”. That’s true but there’s nothing better than getting together with mates, even just for an hour or two, so it’s well worth the small organisational effort. Pubs and cafes are a great place to meet people without having to commit swathes of time and The Campaign for Real Ale is running a “meet friends at the pub” campaign to encourage socialising. Beer from the supermarket is cheaper, but it doesn’t come with the priceless addition of don’t social contact, so perhaps we should drink less and chat more!
Left alone for even a moment, how many of us delve into our pockets for that ultimate safety device – the phone? While we’re tapping away on that, we can both look and feel as if we are busily communicating with the world, but are we? Is there not more value in looking out the window at the life around us, in admiring the scenery or chatting to a person nearby? The brilliant little film by Andy Parsons for
The Campaign Against Loneliness shows him persuading people in a shopping centre to put away their devices and chat. So much laughter and quiet joy ensues.
Not to text or post filtered pictures, or to scroll through YouTube videos of cats, but to actually call someone. Ironically, we are spending more time than ever before on phones but are talking far less.And when we do it tends to be more for practicalities than chat. So why not find ten minutes, scroll through your contacts and call someone you know doesn’t see many people to ask the simple question, “How are you?” It’s more rewarding than those cats, however funny they are.
MAKING simple connections with other human beings is what it’s all about. I’ve always hated the word “strangers” because it implies that people we don’t know are strange.
As Charlie says in Four Minutes to Save a Life, “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.” He’s paraphrasing a well-known saying attributed to Napoleon: “Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.”
If the great general could see that then surely we all can – though hopefully not with the aim of world domination, but the far simpler aim of making our lives and those around us that little bit happier.
Humans are designed to live in communities to derive energy and comfort from one another, but these days traditional concepts of community are breaking down.
Jo Cox’s commission was set up with the aim to “combat loneliness one conversation at a time”. Time to get those conversations going.